SC cancels certificate of candidacy of BM Naval

NAGA CITY—The
Supreme Court has sustained the decision of the Commission on Elections
(Comelec) cancelling the certificate of candidacy (COC) of Camarines Sur Board Member Angel Naval., thus upholding the three-term limit.

Board Member Angel Naval
Photo: SP Camarines Sur

In a 25-page decision that was promulgated July 8, 2014 and released yesterday, the Supreme Court cited the laws that limit consecutive terms, cautioning against the ills that exemptions or exceptions may elicit.

“The
drafters of the Constitution recognized the propensity of public officers to
perpetuate themselves in power, hence, the adoption of term limits and a
guarantee of every citizen's equal access to public service. These are the
restrictions statesmen should observe for they are intended to help ensure the
continued vitality of our republican institutions," the Court said.

Reapportionment

Naval was elected
as member of the provincial board for Camarines Sur’s second district in 2004, and again in
2007.

However, before his second term was over, the President signed into law Republic Act No. 9716 which reapportioned legislative districts in the province.

As a result of said republic act, 8 out of 10 towns were taken from the old second district to form the present third district.

In the 2010 elections, Naval once again won as among the members of the Sanggunian, third district. He served until 2013.

In the 2013 elections, Naval ran anew and was re-elected as Member of the Sanggunian, third district.

Prior to his re-election, however, Nelson Julia, who ran against Naval, filed a petition for the cancellation of Naval's COC in October 29, 2012.

Comelec
ruled in Julia’s favor and cancelled Naval's COC through a decision of its
second division on March 5, 2013.

Naval
questioned Comelec's decision before the Supreme Court, arguing that "the
First, Second and Third Legislative Districts of Camarines Sur are not merely
renamed but are composed of new sets of municipalities. With the separation of Gainza and Milaor from
the other eight towns which used to comprise the Second District, the voters
from the Third Legislative District are no longer the same ones as
those who had
elected him to
office in the
2004 and 2007 elections."

Inflexible

The Supreme
Court disagreed, saying that the three-term limit is "inflexible."It further noted that "[t]he rationale behind reapportionment is the constitutional
requirement to achieve equality of representation among the districts. It is with this mindset that the Court should
consider Naval’s argument anent having a new set of constituents electing him
into office in 2010 and 2013. Naval’s
ineligibility to run, by reason of violation of the three-term limit rule, does
not undermine the right to equal representation of any of the districts in
Camarines Sur. With or without him, the
renamed Third District, which he labels as a new set of constituents, would
still be represented, albeit by another eligible person."

"[T]he
Court finds no compelling reason to grant the reliefs prayed for by Naval. For the Court to declare otherwise would be
to create a dangerous precedent unintended by the drafters of our Constitution
and of R.A. No. 9716. Considering that
the one-term gap or rest after three consecutive elections is a result of a
compromise among the members of the Constitutional Commission, no cavalier exemptions
or exceptions to its application is to be allowed," the ruling reads.

"[S]ustaining
Naval’s arguments would practically allow him to hold the same office for 15
years. These are the circumstances the
Constitution explicitly intends to avert," the Court held.